Sunday, May 12, 2013

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there! I hope that each of you has a wonderful day!I'm sorry I've been MIA for a week or so, but I've been finishing up finals and had a brief hospital stay and graduation...all in a week! Throw in finding a dress to wear to graduation and it was a full, full week. I, admittedly do not enjoy shopping for myself. It's hard to find things that fit and look nice. Just because I am not a size 2 doesn't mean I want to wear a dress made to look like the pattern from a 1970's couch cover! The hint I want to give here is to not discount those stores that you think might be out of your price range for clothing. I had scoured the mall and was about to give up when I thought, "What the heck" and walked into Von Maur. I found an absolutely beautiful dress for 75% off and got a dress with a jacket for $50, much less than I had budgeted for. I want to share a little tip with you for those who have spouses who can cook but can't seem to find a meal amongst the items in your pantry. My husband is a great cook but, bless his heart, you could turn him loose in a grocery store and he couldn't find a meal! So I keep a shelf in the freezer that has everything for a meal right in one spot. It's nothing fancy but it's a meal he can put together quickly. In the freezer, I keep some chili in a Ziploc bag. I also keep some pulled pork BBQ and buns in there. When I make things like chili or pulled pork, I always make a little extra for the freezer. So that something is not just sitting in the freezer forever, every couple of weeks when I have something on the menu that will freeze well, I'll pull out the "emergency" meal and make it for lunch on the weekend. Nothing like a nice pulled pork sammie on a Saturday afternoon. Even though this "emergency" meal changes every so often so that it's not a meal that has sat there so long that it's freezer burnt, my husband and children know that this particular shelf in the freezer is a quick, decent meal that can be on the table quickly. This eliminates those unnecessary, unplanned restaurant meals that are so expensive. Unfortunately, we learned this strategy because of my hospitalizations but it comes in so handy when ever we are faced with busy kids needing to be in different places on the same evening. We can still have a semi-healthy meal, quickly and, if need be, in shifts as people are home. I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day!